EnerNOC Buys Its Way Into Australia

EnerNOC (NASDAQ:ENOC) has acquired Energy Response, the largest demand response provider in Australia and New Zealand. The purchase will increase its position in Western Australia and give the Boston-based company entry into Eastern Australia and New Zealand.

Energy Response is a player in multiple markets, including capacity, energy and ancillary services. Current customers will now be able to use EnerNOC’s full suite of applications. In Western Australia, the acquisition means that EnerNOC now has 240 megawatts under its control, up from 100.

“As Australia and New Zealand move toward a lower-carbon energy future, solutions like demand response, carbon management, and data-driven energy efficiency will become even more important, both to electricity users and the nations’ electricity grids,” David Brewster, president of EnerNOC, said in a statement.

EnerNOC made a move into the U.K. last fall and has 10 other acquisitions in total. Many of the purchases have been to broaden its offerings or strengthen its positions in different regions of the U.S., such as its purchase of M2M Communications, which delivers wireless, automated demand response solutions to the agricultural sector and primarily serves the Western U.S.

The M2M acquisition could also play into its intentions in Australia, as Tim Healy, EnerNOC’s chairman and CEO noted that agricultural demand response is a huge untapped market worldwide. “The electricity markets in Australia and New Zealand present tremendous opportunities for EnerNOC and Energy Response to join forces to provide a broad range of demand-side resources,” Healy said in a statement.

Down Under is a prime area for demand response with its extremely hot summers. But EnerNOC is also looking to move beyond event demand respond services, and the region could offer ample opportunity with its focus on energy efficiency, and Australia’s commitment to solar could open up demand response opportunities in the ancillary market to mitigate the intermittency of bring the renewable resources onto the grid.

Although Australia and New Zealand offer strong market opportunities unto themselves, there is also an appeal that they are relatively close to another key market: China.